Apple Turns 50: From Garage Startup to AI Crossroads 
Nomura Upgrades PDD Holdings to Buy, Calls Stock Too Cheap to Ignore 
NASA's Artemis II Crew Arrives in Florida for Historic Moon Mission 
TSMC Japan's Second Fab to Produce 3nm Chips by 2028 
Brown-Forman and Pernod Ricard in Merger Talks to Create World's Largest Spirits Giant 
NVIDIA's Feynman AI Chip May Face Redesign Amid TSMC Capacity Crunch 
Golden Dome Missile Defense: Anduril and Palantir Join Forces on Trump's $185B Space Shield 
CTOC Adds 3,000 Doctors, 500 Hospitals Ahead of Liquidity Push 
Norma Group Posts Revenue Decline in 2025, Eyes Modest Recovery in 2026 
Microsoft Eyes $7B Texas Energy Deal to Power AI Data Centers 
Makemation: a Nollywood movie that shows AI in action in Africa 
Reflection AI Eyes $25 Billion Valuation in Massive $2.5 Billion Funding Round 
Brazil Meat Exports Weather Iran War Disruptions With Rerouted Shipments 
Meta and Google just lost a landmark social media addiction case. A tech law expert explains the fallout 
Nanya Technology Shares Surge 10% After $2.5 Billion Private Placement from Sandisk and Cisco 
Trump White House Unveils National AI Policy Framework for Congress 
Elon Musk Announces Terafab: SpaceX and Tesla to Build Dual AI Chip Factories in Austin, Texas 
Documents Microsoft filed to regulators around the world have been a great source of interesting information about its gaming business. It now appears that one of the filings also provides a rare look at how much the company is earning from Xbox Game Pass.
TweakTown spotted a document Microsoft submitted to the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), Brazil's regulatory agency, that indicated it earned $2.9 billion from Xbox Game Pass in 2021. The figure reportedly includes earnings from subscriptions on Xbox consoles only.
It can be recalled that Microsoft made the distinction between its Xbox and PC subscription services clearer by renaming the latter as PC Game Pass in late 2021. It is also unclear how much of the $2.9 billion earnings came from Game Pass Ultimate memberships, which combines services for Xbox consoles, PC, and mobile devices via Xbox Cloud Gaming.
The publication noted, based on figures Microsoft previously reported, that its overall gaming business (hardware, games, and services) generated $16.28 billion in the same year. This suggests Xbox Game Pass earnings accounted for about 18% of Microsoft's Xbox revenues in that period.
The discovery of the Xbox Game Pass earnings figure is a good find, especially since Microsoft seldom provides exact numbers of how much it is earning from the service. The clearest data consumers can refer to is the most recent Game Pass subscriber count, which Microsoft said grew to 25 million members during its Q2 FY2022 earnings call last January. That signifies a 7 million subscriber growth from the previous year.
Many have been questioning the sustainability of Microsoft's Game Pass, especially due to the company's drive to bring even big-budget AAA games to the subscription service at launch without additional cost. Xbox has also inked deals with third-party developers and publishers to have their games launch on Game Pass on day one, allowing subscribers to access them without paying the full price.
This unconventional gaming business model, however, is what Microsoft says drives the continuing growth of Game Pass. "Our differentiated content is driving the service's growth, and we released new AAA titles this holiday to rave reviews and record usage," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said last January.
Billy Freeman/Unsplash
